FINDING THE MOMENT
Richie Schley points out the original talus slope lines of Todd Pit to author Leslie Anthony
shirts versus skins: Christian Bégin, Schley, Brett Tippie and Anthony in Lillooet, British Columbia, in 1996.
FIVE RIDERS LINE UP ALONG A RIDGELINE, TINY ACTION FIGURES WAVERING AGAINST A SETTING SUN. UNCERTAINTY IS what it looks like, though there’s little doubt what will come next.
One by one, they push off, their passage a snail’s pace at this distance. Cresting a breakover in the upper part of the slope, their bikes pick up speed, spreading out across the face. One straight-lines while the rest execute the kind of sinuous turns one might make in snow. All fight the rim-deep sand and gravel, leaving smoky rooster tails to hang in the still, searing air. As the group descends, a clutch of onlookers at the bottom cheers them on; cameras follow from every compass direction.
If you’re old enough to remember, as I am, it looks like a scene straight out of
